Declaration still is very relevant

Between firecrackers and cold ones over the next week, take 10 minutes to read the Declaration of Independence.

Just 1,300 words, the document is history's greatest breakup letter. The authors accuse King George of 27 abuses, which they concluded were grounds for revolution.

The declaration is now more than 140 years old, but a modern reading of the colonists' complaints reveals several that have persisted or reemerged since 1776.

The founders wrote, 'He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance. … ”

It's hard to compare the pressing importance of modern and colonial legislation, but it's easy to see how federal and state governments interfere with the will of lower jurisdictions, irking both conservatives and liberals.

Republicans have long complained about erosion of states' rights and local control, but this year in Iowa, Democrats in local government sparred with Republican legislators over a laundry list of restrictions on home rule powers.

As an example especially pertinent to the upcoming holiday, lawmakers gave cities the power to outlaw the use of consumer fireworks, but gutted that power by withholding bans on firework sales.

The founders wrote, 'He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.”

This grievance seems most applicable to our situation. Centuries later, it's hard to think of a better way than this passage to describe the enormous growth of our tax, regulatory, and criminal codes.

No one is sure how many federal agencies exist. A 2012 report from the federal Administrative Conference noted 'there is no authoritative list of government agencies” and estimates range from 78 to 174.

With too many laws and regulations to count, lawyer and author Harvey Silverglate estimated in 2009 the average American commits three felonies each day. For businesses, the Heritage Foundation estimated in 2016 that federal regulations eat our substance at a rate of $100 billion annually.

Founders said, 'He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.”

Weapons and surveillance power available to local authorities likely exceed any technology Thomas Jefferson or King George imagined.

Even in a medium-size community like Johnson County, government has a fully equipped SWAT team, with tactical weapons and chemical munitions. In 2014, the county became one jurisdictions to receive a mine-resistant truck, surplus of the war on terror.

Yet even with all of our failures and setbacks, in almost every meaningful way, we live at the most libertarian time in world history - women and minorities have legal status; peaceful transitions of power and due process are common; political imprisonment is rare; and we have a voice in government, stifled as it may often be.

It's important to recognize we modern Americans enjoy far more freedom and suffer from far less corruption than British subjects in colonial America. As you revisit the Declaration of Independence this July 4, notice too the progress we've made.

' Comments: Sullivan.AB@gmail.com; adam4liberty.com